Avodah Zarah 72 - 76

Drinking wine from one faucet of a large container while a non-Jew drinks from another

The status of wine or water into which forbidden wine or water has been mixed

The general rule of small amounts of forbidden matter affecting a larger quantity they have entered

Selling forbidden wine which fell into a cistern of wine

The winepress tarred by a non-Jew

Removing forbidden material from surfaces

Kashering and mikveh immersion for vessels purchased from a non-Jew

Broiling in the Beit Hamikdash

Sticking a knife into the earth to kasher it

Beit Hamikdash Broiling

Avoda Zara 76a

Was libun required for the vessels used in the Beit Hamikdash for broiling sacrificial flesh?

Libun is the direct exposure to fire, which is mandatory for removing the non-kosher matter absorbed in vessels used for broiling before using them for kosher food. Although only strictly kosher meat was broiled in the Beit Hamikdash, there was, however, the problem of notar. Any meat left over beyond the time limit set by the Torah for consumption was strictly forbidden. The same rule applies to meat that was absorbed in its broiling vessel, which is subsequently released through the next broiling which takes place after the time limit.

The grills and spits that were used daily in the Beit Hamikdash would thus have faced the problem of notar. If the flesh of a chattat sacrifice, whose time limit is one day and night, was broiled one day, the meat that these vessels absorbed would be released in the next day's broiling of a sacrifice and render it unfit for consumption. How then did they manage to continually use the same vessels?

One of the answers offered by the Sae Rava is that on the day they broiled chattat flesh they would also broil the flesh of a shlamim sacrifice, which may be consumed for another day as well. The absorbed chattat meat would thus be released into the shlamim meat and consumed. This process could be repeated daily so that one day's broiling would achieve libun for the earlier absorption without encountering the problem of notar.

What the Sages Say

"When the Torah ordered the immersion of non-Jewish vessels in a mikveh it also included new ones purchased from them"

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